Thieves use a variety of tools to break into fenced areas secured with a chain or cable and a padlock or to steal from retail stores displaying wheelbarrows, lawnmowers, barbecue grills, bicycles, motorcycles, or other large items outside. These tools include sledge hammers, acetylene cutting torches, saws, grinders and the like. In addition to these tools, the bolt cutter is a favored tool of burglars for cutting padlocks because of its portability and the fact that it can be used quickly and quietly allowing pilferage even in front of busy retail hardware stores in the middle of the day.
Retail products locked with a chain or cable are typically secured by a padlock that attaches the two open ends of the chain or cable to complete a circle that inhibits unwarranted removal of a retail item that has the securing connector threaded through it such that the item cannot be freely moved beyond a certain distance. Likewise, a gate can be secured by a chain and padlock by wrapping the chain around the swinging end of the gate and the post or pole to which it can be latched. In protecting a padlock used in this context, it is desirable to keep the lock guard relatively small to make it difficult for thieves to access the lock, yet sufficiently large so that the securing padlock's shackle is retained within the lock guard to minimize ready access. It is also desirable to provide a universal device that is not designed for a particular style cable or chain but is universally suitable for use with most chains or looped cables and most brands of padlocks.
For ages, two basic designs of lock boxes having four walls and a top have been used. One inconvenient design was a large box with a loop or bar inside the box for attaching the padlock and without an abutment as in the present invention. The chain or cable being locked was brought up through the bottom of the lock box. This box was inconvenient for two reasons. First, the user was forced to run the chain or cable up through the bottom of the box and could not see the relative position of the ends of the chain or cable once they were inside the box. This made capturing the cable or chain with the padlock difficult. Second, in order to lock the padlock, the user was required to reach inside the lock box. This was difficult and required the lock box to be larger than the present invention, which has an abutment for locking the padlock. The second design was comprised of a box fixed to a first door with a separate protruding element, typically bent, attached to a second door. The protruding element could be inserted into the box through a slot or opening in the back of the box on the first door and secured therein with a padlock. This design cannot be used in a free-standing environment. Thus there is a need for a convenient device for protecting padlocks used to secure the ends of connectors such as chains or cables where the lock is not attached to a bracket, latch, or other solid mounting surface.
Various attempts have been made to protect padlocks over the years, although most address the situation in which the padlock is locked to a wall or latch. Examples of such devices include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,220,941 to Bowers, U.S. Pat. No. 1,244,404 to Ankovitz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,555 to Beaver, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,581,907 and 4,898,008 to Eberly, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,533 to Santini.
Further attempts to protect locks are directed to bolt seals, as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,240 to Hamilton. Some attempts have been made to protect padlocks not secured to a door latch. Examples of such attempts include the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,847 to Vesely, U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,772 to Denison, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,989 to St. James. None of these devices, however, achieves the results of the present invention.